“Are you insane?”

“…Excuse me?”

“I asked if you’ve lost your mind.”

Bianca’s eyes widened innocently as she repeated herself. Across from her, His Holiness Aeras pinched the bridge of his nose, holding back a sigh.

She looked every bit the picture of a saint, golden hair, soft features, and a smile that could melt hearts. And yet, standing before her, he felt as though he were facing a demon itself.

“Saintess, that’s not what I meant. I’m simply asking what exactly made you act as you did in the slums?”

“Isn’t that the same as asking if I’ve gone mad?”

Her lips curved in a gentle smile, but the disdain in her eyes directed at him was impossible to miss.

“Or was it simply that you couldn’t admit you didn’t want to waste the gold?”

What Bianca had done in the slums was no miracle. She had drawn on her holy power, not to bless, but to summon the temple’s own reserves and scatter them like rain.

Not long after, the treasury had gone into uproar. Gold vanished before their eyes. Gone. 

Pale-faced priests had rushed to Aeras in panic.

“Your Holiness! The gold is disappearing! Please, help us!”

When Aeras descended to the underground vault, he found the saintess’ divine power wrapped around the gold.

“This is no cause for alarm,” he told them calmly. “It seems the gold has simply been reassigned where it was needed more.”

He soothed the frantic priests, sent them away, and waited patiently for Bianca’s return. She came back before sunset, though the rumors had returned far earlier.

“They say she showered gold in place of blessings!”

“She bestowed upon them the Mercy of Gold!”

“She freed the poor from their shame!”

But the reality was far too different. Half of the temple’s annual budget had been wiped out in a single day. It was obvious that the temple’s operations would be affected.

What’s worse, she had done it without consulting anyone. She deserved to be summoned at once and punished severely.

Despite that, Aeras had chosen to hear the truth from her lips first.

And yet this was how she answered?

Suppressing his anger, he spoke in a calm tone.

“Saintess, that is not what this is about.”

“Then what is it about?” Bianca shot back, eyes gleaming with mockery. “That I’ve gone mad? Or that you’re just stingy with money? If it’s neither, then what’s your point?”

Her smile was crooked, as if sneering at him. Bianca had no intention of speaking earnestly. Every word from her mouth was nothing but provocation.

“You were fine for a while…” Aeras muttered, rubbing his brow as if to ease a headache. Then, all of a sudden, a realization struck him.

Bianca had never acted like this; she had always been quiet and gentle. She was a woman of unmatched divine power, but she was never arrogant. She only stepped forward when it was needed, and even then, she always did so with care—so as to never draw attention to herself.

And yet, there were times when she behaved differently, as if she were someone else. During those times, she was more arrogant and noble than any high-ranking noble. 

Much like now.

His mind returned to the reports he had heard earlier that day.

“They said you asked the poor, bluntly, whether they wanted blessings or coins.”

“And then promised a reward if they admitted that blessings wouldn’t last them more than a day.”

It was barely a question, more a taunt disguised as one. Words Bianca would never have spoken. At least, not the Bianca he knew.

So why today? Why there?

His eyes narrowed.

“Saintess… was this deliberate?”

“I have no idea what you mean,” she said, calm as ever, yet for a fleeting instant, a flicker of discomfort betrayed her.

Ah. So that was it.

He grasped the truth in an instant. 

The slums were home to the so-called voluntary poor—tax-dodgers, fugitives, and people the Empire branded as sinners. However, the temple could not overtly intervene, not with the imperial family already hostile. Thus, once a year, the saintess was sent to offer blessings, nothing more.

But this time… Bianca had gone against that flimsy compromise. Not with prayers, but with gold. With a spectacle too grand for anyone—even the emperor—to ignore.

The slum-dwellers had been redeemed, their debts erased.

The empire could no longer brand them as sinners.

It was, in every sense, a perfect salvation.

Aeras stared at her, awestruck.

Those aquamarine eyes, pure and unblemished. That soft golden hair cascading over her shoulders. So small she barely reached his chest, yet at this moment, there was nothing in the world more imposing than she.

Heat swelled in his chest, as if it were the day his divine power had first awakened. His hands trembled, overwhelmed by the glory before him.

“Saintess…”

He cupped her cheek reverently, as though cradling something sacred.

How many nights had she agonized over this? How alone she must have been, to bear such a burden herself.

“Do not forget who you are. You never need to act alone.”

Smack.

Her pale hand struck him away without hesitation.

““I don’t know who set up this absurd charade, but I only spoke my mind. Empty blessings mean nothing, and I won’t flaunt them as charity. Don’t try to give it meaning it doesn’t have.”

“Saintess—”

“Do you know what I’ve realized, Your Holiness? There isn’t a soul in this temple who isn’t a hypocrite.”

“Yes,” Aeras said softly, nodding. “We are all hypocrites.”

The words cut deep, yet understanding the sincerity behind them only made her more precious to him.

“And that includes you, Saintess. I’ve always wanted the chance to say so.”

“Exactly. Which is why you must keep me close, so I can keep calling you out.”

“…Why are you like this?”

She faltered, her composure cracking. It was almost unbearably endearing.

Aeras’s lips curved in a smile, pale and radiant.

How lovely she was.

***

Is he insane?

The thought struck her cold. No matter how much she insulted him, Aeras only smiled at her. Bianca’s composure faltered for a moment, as if something inside her had taken over, but instinct and danger quickly pulled her back to clarity.

Danger. Her survival was in danger.

As she blinked a few times, her vision returned to its normal state.

“Why are you acting like this?” she demanded, retreating a step.

Aeras Hayden. The young high priest blessed by Odin himself, or so the whispers claimed.

But who could have guessed that he might actually be mad?

Her pulse spiked, a rare flicker of fear.

“I mean it, Saintess,” Aeras said, stepping forward with long strides.

Bianca quickly took three steps back, keeping distance.

“Stop this. Calm yourself, Your Holiness!”

“Calm myself? You misunderstand. I am perfectly calm and utterly serious when I ask you to remain at my side.”

Her thoughts spun. Just as she thought she had her other self under control, why did Aeras suddenly seem to lose his wits?

Nervous, she bit her lip hard until a new sensation startled her.

“Don’t hurt yourself. If you must bite something… bite me.”

His hand found hers. With a gentle touch, he brushed her lip free with his thumb, then slid his finger between her teeth, offering it to her without hesitation.

This was madness. Absolute madness.

“You…” Bianca whispered, voice deadly serious. “Your Holiness, are you possessed by Satan?”

Aeras laughed openly.

“Tell me, Saintess. Have you ever seen someone possessed by Satan?”

Bianca’s lips curved faintly.

Yes. Me.

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